Chapter 38 #2
The bathroom door opened, and I heard small cries. It triggered something within me, and my breasts began to ache.
Xylo and the princes entered, beaming, each carrying a crying cub. The healers trailed behind them as they all gathered at the edge of the nestbed.
Xylo climbed the stairs and approached with one of the cubs.
“Selena. I believe you have a few cubs who are hungry and want to meet you,” Xylo whispered.
He unwrapped the towel to reveal a furry head as Odelm lowered the blanket to my waist. My eyes locked on the cub as he passed her to me.
“Here is your daughter. What are you going to name her?”
She was beautiful.
She filled both of my hands and felt so light compared to her size.
Everything about her was soft to the touch.
Her fur was the same color as my hair, silver.
Her face and chest were a pale blue-gray.
Turning her to the side, I traced a swirling pattern of black and midnight stripes with my eyes.
Her bushy tail was silver on top and with the same pale blue-gray visible underneath as it curled around her body, tip flicking lazily.
I’d seen pictures of the felines on Earth, and my daughter reminded me of them—especially her triangular ears and the legs that seemed to have one more joint than a human’s, bent in the wrong direction. Tiny claws tipped her five toes and five fingers, both of which had pads, much like a feline.
A purr sounded from my daughter as she tilted her head up to meet my gaze. Her eyes matched him—her sire. They were amethyst and seemed to look into my heart, curling up in their new home.
A small chirp escaped her.
I glanced up at Xylo as I rubbed her cheeks. “What is the Aldawi word for light? Hope? Something feminine that has to do with a bright future.”
He tilted his head in thought. “Meti. It means wish, as in a great yearning.”
Meti. It was perfect.
I brought her to my chest. Instinctively, she rubbed her cheek against my breast before latching onto my nipple. I felt the drag of breastmilk as she sucked, and a pleasant feeling flowed through me.
I was a mother.
“My little girl, I’m going to name you Meti.
You are the hope for the future. A gift from the Stars.
” I smiled. “I’m your mother. These two males beside me are your fathers.
You have two littermates who are your brothers.
This means it’s you and me against a clan full of males.
We’ve got to stick together,” I whispered to her, watching her eyes getting heavy as she looked up at me with trust.
Nearby, my sons were beginning to cry in earnest. I looked up from Meti to the princes, who were trying to comfort them by holding them to their chests like me.
I smiled at the sight. Neither Wudox or Ulax had nipples, so would never have needed to carry offspring like that.
They were obviously mimicking what I did, trying to calm my sons.
Meti released my nipple as her purrs grew louder. Looking down, I saw she’d fallen asleep while feeding.
I glanced over at Odelm, knowing he hadn’t had a chance to hold any of our new cubs. His face was full of hope and happiness. Lifting Meti, I cradled her in my arms and held her out to Odelm.
“Want to hold her? I believe you haven’t met our daughter,” I whispered, trying not to wake Meti up.
He smiled and held his hands out. “I would love to.”
I passed her to him and watched as he fell for her. I knew females were cherished by both species, but seeing him look down at her in awe, I knew this meant a lot to him. Odelm lay carefully back next to me, placing her in the middle of his chest.
“Our sons are hungry too, Selena,” Xylo whispered.
Looking up at Xylo, I saw he held both of our sons—one in each arm—and was waiting to place them on my chest. I smiled and settled one, helping him latch on, while Xylo helped the other.
Their cries stopped as their mouths went straight for my nipples.
As they frantically drew, purrs radiated from them both.
I looked down at their downy heads with an indulgent smile.
My sons were nearly identical, but for one minor difference.
The one latched onto my left breast had silver fur around his eyes, while the one on the right had a thin silver line along the center of the arch of his nose.
Both had my blue-green eyes and shared the same striped fur.
Their faces and chests faded from the black of their back and sides, to midnight, and finally to steel.
Thin silver stripes patterned the black fur of their back and sides.
Both sons had a short tail, black on top and midnight underneath, with a steel tuft at the end.
Their tiny clawed hands kneaded my breasts as they drank hungrily, watching me. I could tell they were going to be fierce like their sire, intense about everything. And they were likely to be very protective of their sister.
“Xylo. What are the Aldawi words for protector or watcher? Perhaps hunter or something along those lines?” I asked as I watched my sons eat.
“Nocrez means dark shield, as in a hidden protector. And Neazzos means shadow, like a forever slayer. Those are fierce names for males who you want to stick together, and I believe, are what you are looking for,” Xylo said with a smile on his face as he lay down next to me, watching our sons drink.
I rubbed the son with the silver highlights around his blue-green eyes. “Your name is Nocrez. You and your brother shall become fast friends with your sister, Meti, and be her protector. The three of you shall stay together, causing mischief wherever you go.”
His eyes drifted closed as he rubbed his head against my hand. His fur felt incredibly soft. Nocrez purred louder and his breathing slowed. He fell asleep on me.
I guess he liked the name.
I slid my hand to our other son, tracing a finger up the thin silver line on his nose, stroking his head, then down his back. His drags on my nipple slowed, and from his half-lidded eyes, I could tell he was about to follow his siblings into sleep.
“And last, but certainly not least, you shall be Neazzos. Our future may be unknown right now, but you will be loved, and we will remain together as a family.”
Neazzos stopped feeding and leaned back against my hand. His lids closed and his purr deepened.
I leaned back with a smile, scanning the room.
Odelm cuddled against me cradling Meti on his chest. Xylo lay on my other side and had just scooped up Nocrez to sleep in his arms. The princes stood beside the nestbed watching me with indulgent smiles as their vines and tentacles entwined.
The three healers had their wristband screens up and were typing frantically on them while sitting on the L-shaped couch in the corner.
“Where’s Kaede?”